Hello dear reader!
Welcome to another issue of this newsletter. This week I want to talk about reading, attention, and what I built to get both back. To break the text: some photos from a recent walk.
In this issue:
- Why reading online keeps slipping away
- Reclaiming attention from the infinite scroll
- Building InboxToKindle
It is no surprise that I like writing. I mean, I write this newsletter every week, and I’ve been writing on the internet on and off for quite some time. As I write, I also like to read. I find in the written word a way to express and transmit ideas in a more thoughtful way. Writing forces you to think, to edit, to make the message clear. Way more clear than just talking. And reading, on the other hand, lets the message land at its own rhythm.
For me, one of the great corners of the internet is blogs and newsletters. A place to put thoughts out in the open, accessible to anyone. An open garden.
But I have to confess that in that open garden, I tend to get distracted. It probably has to do with the device I use to consume most of this material. You might find it relatable: you open the mail app on your phone, start reading something, click a link, or switch apps, and off you go. A new rabbit hole. The reading never quite finishes.
If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been trying to be more intentional about social media and content consumption. Reclaiming my attention, and staying away from those rabbit holes. The infinite scroll.
So I built something to help with that.
Reading Newsletters Without Distractions
I created InboxToKindle, a service that forwards your newsletters directly to your Kindle, formatted as ebooks. You can subscribe to newsletters through it, or simply forward your existing subscriptions. It delivers them automatically, or batches everything into a daily or weekly dossier.
The reason is simple: I wanted to read on a device that only does one thing. No notifications, no app-switching, no algorithm nudging me somewhere else. Just words and images on a screen designed for reading.
I’ve been using it for the last few weeks, and it has genuinely changed the experience. Not only does it give me more control over what I read and when, but seeing the words on that black and white e-ink screen adds something extra. The Kindle is built for reading in a way a phone simply isn’t. The setup is pretty straightforward if you want to give it a try.
This is something I’ve touched on before, this idea of building your own tools when the existing ones don’t quite fit. It’s part of the same process I’ve been describing in why I write this newsletter: trying to own my own attention rather than hand it over to a platform.
If you’re reading this, I’d guess you enjoy not just photos but also reading. So if the idea resonates, give InboxToKindle a try. I’m sure I’m not the only one trying to reclaim my attention.
In the meantime, I’ll keep writing, thinking, and building. Writing and reading help me put my ideas in perspective. Then comes the building part, where ideas start taking their own shape. Photos, tools, essays. And sometimes the tools I build end up improving the thinking process that created them.
That’s it for today. I’m curious: are you trying to reclaim your attention? How do you handle the constant overflow of notifications and distractions that come with having a phone in your pocket at all times? Hit reply, I’d love to hear what’s working for you.
Luis